T

he head of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) training center has testified that the three main defendants in the alleged killing of four detainees at Cebongan Penitentiary in Sleman, Yogyakarta violated regulations by taking guns and ammunition with them when they left the exercise site.

'They broke the appropriate rules. Using guns and ammunition for purposes other than exercises is against regulations,' Lt. Col. Burhan Samsudin, head of the Kopassus team of instructors, told the trial at the II-11 Yogyakarta Military Court on Thursday.

Burhan was presented as a witness to presiding judge Lt. Col. Djoko Sasmito, in the trial of the three main defendants ' Second. Sgt. Ucok Tigor Simbolon, Second Sgt. Sugeng Sumaryanto and First Corporal Kodik.

They are three of the 12 defendants in the case who are all members of the Kopassus Group 2 Kandang Menjangan in Kartosuro, Central Java.

Nine of the defendants have been charged with premeditated murder, while the remaining three are charged with not informing their superiors about the other nine Kopassus soldiers leaving for Yogyakarta.

Also testifying in Thursday's hearing were battalion commander of Group 2 Kandang Menjangan, Lt. Col. Maruli Simanjuntak; head of the situation creator (Bulsi) B team First Sgt. Hasmudin and another three defendants, namely Maj. Sgt. Rokhmadi, Maj. Sgt. Muhammad Zaenuri and Chief Sgt. Sutar.

Thursday's hearing was aimed at exploring how the three main defendants left the site of their exercises in Gondosuli on the slopes of Mount Lawu in Karanganyar, Central Java, before going to the prison and killing the four detainees.

The four detainees were suspects in the murder of a former Kopassus member, Chief Sgt. Heru Santosa, at a café in Yogyakarta

Answering the presiding judge's question regarding Ucok, Sugeng and Kodik's leaving the exercise ground while carrying guns, Burhan said that he trusted Kopassus members who were highly disciplined and therefore were expected to take full responsibility for the guns they carried.

The question was made in response to Burhan's previous statement in answer to military prosecutor Lt. Col. Budiharto's question about whether the guns were issued to the soldiers and whether they could be carried wherever
they went.

Both Burhan and Maruli said that when there was no exercise, members of the Bulsi team could leave the training center without asking for permission from the exercise commander.

Hasmudin separately said that after the exercise that night he heard Ucok, Sugeng and Kodik talking about an attack on First Sgt. Sriyono, Ucok's friend, who was also a former member of Kopassus Group 2 and who is a member of the 072
Yogyakarta military district Command (Kodim).

The trial of the first three defendants was adjourned until Friday during which the defendants' team of lawyers is expected to present expert witnesses including Edward Oemar Syarief Hieariej of Gadjah Mada University's school of law, psychologist Reza Indra Giri of Pancasila University among others.

First Sgt. Sriyono is also expected to be called.